Should our game be cooperative or competitive?
- This determines what kind of fun people have — fellowship vs. challenge — as well as the fundamental structure of the game and strategy. Because the game doesn’t require any materials, we can just make a prototype of each mode. I think people will enjoy a competitive version (where, for example, you want to identify others’ relationships without revealing yours) more
Should people guess others’ relationships publicly or privately?
- Similarly to the first example, I think we can simply playtest the game with both mechanics. We can then see what different kind of dynamics emerge from the different degrees of information. I think guessing relationships publicly (but maybe only answering the guesses privately?) will be better because it complicates the information that is available to all the players; that way each player’s guess is interesting to every player and some reading of people is required.
What is an appropriate number of players?
- I think a few prototypes are necessary here: one with four players all connected to each other, one with eight players all connected to each other, and one with eight players each with three connections. I believe eight players will be more fun because of the increased chaos. So, I then want to explore the best way to connect these players; I think restricting the number of relationships will be necessary to keep the game followable and enjoyable. This information is core to the structure and the identity of the game, so it is important to hone in on.
